A few days later.
"Jin, Lord Hokage found the rumor-mongers!"
Dressed in Anbu attire, Shisui Uchiha excitedly ran over to find his close friend on patrol.
"Oh."
Uchiha Jin showed little expression. As far as he was concerned, Hiruzen Sarutobi had merely put forward a few scapegoats to take the blame.
How could he possibly catch the real rumor-mongers?
Even if he knew who was behind the rumors, he would not arrest them.
Such was Konoha's hypocritical Third Hokage. The increasingly dark health bar above his head did not lie.
"Lord Hokage wants you to come over."
Shisui Uchiha was delighted, simply believing that finding the rumor-mongers would ease relations between the clan and the village.
After all, other people had spread the rumors, not the village leadership.
And Lord Hokage had already sent the Anbu to track down the culprits. Surely the clan could not blame the leadership for this now.
"Naive fool."
Uchiha Jin snorted and followed Shisui.
By all rights, Shisui was so talented and had excelled in every area at school-the very model of the high-achieving child other parents held up as an example.
Why did he become such an idiot whenever village affairs were involved?
He was as naive as a college student who had never been beaten down by society.
Perhaps this was what being brainwashed by the Will of Fire looked like.
The Hokage's Office.
When Uchiha Jin arrived, several handcuffed young men were already kneeling in the office, their heads lowered as they trembled.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was smoking. The swirling smoke obscured his aged face, making his precise expression impossible to discern.
"Jin, you're here."
He gently set his pipe on the desk, a kindly smile appearing on his face.
"The Anbu have caught all those rumor-mongers. I called you here